On October 1, 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered its judgment in Planet49 (C-673/17), holding that (1) website operators must obtain active opt-in consent to store or access cookies, (2) users must be informed about the retention period and the third party receiving the data, and (3) consent must be obtained regardless of whether the cookies contain personal data. This ruling will likely prompt regulators to scrutinize cookie policies and consent…

On August 12, 2019, the Greek Ministry of Justice published the long-awaited, draft legislation for implementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Greece and Slovenia are the only two European Union (EU) countries that have not yet implemented the GDPR. As an EU regulation, the GDPR has legally taken effect in every EU country, including Greece. In fact, the Greek Supervisory Authority recently imposed a 150,000EUR fine on a company for GDPR violations. However,…

On July 29, 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its decision in FashionID (Case C-40/17), determining that website operators are jointly liable with plugin providers for data collection and transmission through social media buttons and other embedded plugins. Although the ECJ found the operator and plugin provider to be jointly liable, the court placed the burden on the website operator to provide notice and, where necessary, obtain consent for the joint activity. Further,…

On July 5, 2019, the UK’s Data Protection Authority (ICO) issued its “Guidance on the use of cookies and similar technologies” (the Guidance) along with a brief explanatory blog post. At the same time the ICO updated its own website cookie notice and consent, leading by example. The ICO’s blog post makes clear that cookie compliance will increasingly be a regulatory priority, and that companies should start working towards compliance now.…

In a notice issued July 17, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking public comment on a wide range of issues related to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and implementing Rule (COPPA). The FTC has also announced a public workshop to review the COPPA Rule, to be held on October 7, 2019.…

On July 18, 2019, the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) issued new guidance on the use of cookies and similar tracking technologies (collectively referred to as “cookies” below).[1] The guidance clarifies the instances in which companies must obtain consent for the use of cookies and specifies the requirements for obtaining consent.…

The UK Supervisory Authority (the ICO) has had a headline-busting month. On July 9, 2019, the ICO announced its intention to fine Marriott International more than £99 million under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) for a data breach which took place last year,[1] a figure that would have been record breaking had the ICO not announced its intention to fine British Airways £183 million 24 hours earlier.[2] While it is clear that…